Quick-change receiver



April 1, 1958 E. E. BERG 2,828,519 QUICK-CHANGE RECEIVER Filed June 20,1955 Fig.2

INVENTOR.

Ellsworth E. Berg BY itlnited rates Patent QUIK-CHANGE RECEEVEREllsworth E. llerg, Twisp, Wash, assignor of one-third to Rolien E).Schrier, Twisp, Wash.

Application June 20, 1955, Serial No. 516,609

I 3 Claims. (Cl. 24123) This invention relates to a central member forinterconnecting a main line and a plurality of subsidiary lines wherebythe main line by means of this member can increase its usefulness.

An object of this invention is the provision of a connecting means on awire cable and which means eliminates the sharp snag ends of wires onthe cable that cut flesh and clothes, these snag ends result from theformation of a loop in the cable and the tying-in of the ends of theindividual wires comprising the cable into the body of said cable.

A further object is the provision of a one-unit quickchange receiverwhich eliminates a hook and a shackle on a cable.

Another object is to provide a quick-change receiver which makes itpossible to quickly interconnect a main line with secondary lines.

' An additional object is the provision of a quick-change receiver whichis light-in-weight and therefore easy and less tiring for a workman touse.

Another object is to provide a quick-change receiver which lessens thepossibilty of the main line and the subsidiary lines becoming twisted'aseach of these lines are free to spin upon being disconnected from thereceiver.

An additionalobject is to provide a quick-change receiver which makes itpossible to use less main line as there is no necessity to form a loopin said main line.

A further object is to provide a quick-change receiver which makes itpossible to use less subsidiary line as there is no necessity to form aloop in said subsidiary line.

Another important object is to provide a quick-change receiver whicheliminates a C-hook and thereby precludes the pulling-up tight of theC-hook against the bar on a winch with the consequent smashing of thewire cable and the fatiguing of the wire.

A still further object is the provision of a quick-change receiver whichmakes it possible to reverse the leads on the subsidiary line when oneend of the line becomes frayed and with this operation almost double theworking life of the subsidiary line.

Another object is the provision of a quick-change receiver which isinexpensive to manufacture and yet enjoys a long working life.

With yet additional objects and advantages in view which, with theforegoing, will appear and be understood in the course of the followingdescription and claims, the invention consists in the novel constructionand in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described andcla'nned.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a preferred embodiment of aquick-change receiver constructed in accord ance with the teachings ofthis invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical, cross-sectional view on line 22 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the quick-change receiver showing theend of the same for receiving the choker lines; and

Fig. 4, on a reduced scale, is a fragmentary perspective view of aquick-change receiver, a winch line leading out of one end to a winch,and a number of subsidiary lines leading out of the other end.

Referring to the drawings it is a quick-change receiver 10 and whichreceiver comprises a casing 11 having a major keyhole opening 12 joiningan inverted socket 23 and six minor keyhole openings 13 leading into aset of upstanding sockets 20. The lower part is in the configuration ofa right cylinder and the upper part is in the configuration of afrustrum of a right angular cone.

In the lower part are the minor keyhole openings 13, each of which opensinto the interior of the casing on both-the cylindrical sidewall 14 andthe endwall 15. The eye portion 16 of these openings is the size of thesockets 20 and the throat portion 17 is approximately equal in width tothe radius of the sockets. Each throat 17 runs vertically down thesidewall and cuts into the endwall or circular base for a distance equalto about one-fourth the diameter of said endwall. Arising from thecenter part of the endwall and into'the interior of the casing betweensockets 20 is a cylindrical partition 18. This partition, aboutone-third the diameter of the endwall, is in the configuration of aright cylinder to approximately the top of the throat portions 17, atwhich elevation it begins to taper to a guide cone, the apex of the conebeing approximately the elevation of the center of the eyes 16 anddefining the floor of a central chamber 24.

In the upper part of the casing or that part in the configuration of afrustrum of a cone there is the major keyhole opening 12. The throatportion 22 of this opening follows the contour of the cone and extendsthrough the nose thereof. Its eye portion 21 is at the level of themouth of the socket 23 and intersects the central chamber 24 whichextends downwardly as an enlarged prolongation of the socket 23. At itslower end the chamber 24 is connected to the eyes 16 of the keyholeslots 13.

- A specific, and very useful, application of this receiver is in thelogging industry, wherein a crawler-type tractor 'isseen that theinvention is employed to pull logs through the forest to. a loadingstation. To be more particular, there is attached to a winch 25 havingwound thereon a such sizes that both of them can be slipped through theeye 21 and into the large chamber 24. Then the ferrule is drawn into thesocket 23 with the line 26 passing through the throat 22. Leading out ofthe slots 17 on the other end of the receiver are a number of chokerlines 23, each of which on its outer end runs around a log and can becinched tightly around the same. On the inner end of each of thesechoker lines is a choker line ferrule or knob 30. As in the situation ofthe winch line and complementary ferrule 21 choker line and accompanyingferrule are inserted through an eye 16 and into a respec tive socket21). It is readily appreciated that in this manner it is possible toWorkably interconnect six choker lines with one winch line for draggingheavy loads. And, if need be, the receiver can be manufactured withprovision for interconnecting a larger number of choker lines with onewinch line.

The manner of attaching a ferrule onto a wire cable is quite easilybrought about by inserting the line through the ferrule and thenunwinding, for the length of one or two inches, the individual wires atthe end of the cable. The unwinding of these wires or the fraying of theend of the cable increases the space occupied by the end of said cableand thereby prevents the same from passing through the opening in thebase of the ferrule. However. as a safety factor the end of the cable isdrawn into the ferrule so that no frayed ends protrude out of saidferrule and then liquid babbit metal or liquid lead is poured into theferrule. With this treatment there is practically no possibility-of thecable slipping through the ferrule.

Although the advantages of this receiver have previously been brought tothe fore'it is now possible in the light of the invention to moreclearly point out some of these advantages. More specifically, a mainadvantage is the elimination of frayed individual wires where these havebeen spliced into the cable to form a loop. The elimination of thesefrayed ends precludes the possibility of a logger tearing his flesh andclothes on such Wire ends. Also, the receiver is lighter in weight andsmaller in bulk, as compared with the presently employed loggingequipment such as G-hooks and the like, there is much less strain on thelogger handling such equipment. Since both ends of the winch line arethe same, i. e., similar ferrules are on each end, then when one endshows wear and tear from being dragged on the ground and having logsroll on the line it is possible to interchange the ends to present acomparatively unused line for wrapping around and for dragging the logs.This interchange makes it possible to approximately double the life ofthe winch line. Also, it will be noted that the design of the receiverprevents the ferrules from contacting one another even if slack shoulddevelop in one of the lines. In this regard, endwise movement of thewinch line ferrule is limited by the cone face 18 and endwise movementof each choker line ferrule is limited by the overlying wall of the eyeportion 16 of the respective keyhole opening 13.

'1 he advantages of the invention, it is thought, will have been clearlyunderstood from the foregoing detailed description. Minor changes willsuggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that nolimitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given ascope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which theemployed language admits.

What I claim is:

1. A quick-change receiver for a winch line and a plurality of chokerlines all having enlarged terminal knobs, said receiver having agenerally cylindrical base portion formed with a plurality of upstandingchoker sockets which are separated from one another throughout theirlength and are adapted to seat the choker line knobs, each said chokersocket having its outer side wall formed with a keyhole slot which hasits throat portion extending down through the seat of the socket and thefoot of said base portion and which has its eye portion merging directlywith the mouth of the socket throughout the entire areal extent of thelatter, the eye portion of each said keyhole slot being of a size topass the terminal knob of a choker line, and the throat portion of eachsuch slot being of a size to pass a choker line and not the terminalknob thereof, and said receiver having a tapered head portion formedwith a centered inverted winch socket having its outer side wall formedwith a keyhole slot which has its throat portion extending up throughthe seat of the winch socket and the nose of the head portionand whichhas its eye portion merging directly with the mouth of the winch socketthroughout the entire areal extent of the latter, the eye portion of thesaid keyhole slot in the head portion being adapted to pass the terminalknob of the winch line and the throat portion of such slot being of asize to pass the winch line and not the terminal knob thereof, saidreceiver having a central cavity merging with the eyes of all of theaforesaid keyhole slots inwardly of the outer side walls of therespective sockets for receiving the outer end portions of the terminalknobs during the act of inserting the knobs endwise through the eyes ofthe keyhole slots and pivoting the same to seat them in the respectivesockets.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the keyhole slot for the winchsocket is spaced toward the head of the receiver from the keyhole slotsfor the choker sockets.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the base wall of said cavity has atapered nose which projects above the mouths of said choker sockets andpart way only through the height of the eye portions of their respectivesaid keyhole slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,636,090 Erickson July 19, 1927 1,651,081 Ba'rdon Nov. 29, 19271,656,676 Mills Jan. 17, 1928 1,699,381 Stewart Jan. 15, 1929 1,853,291Wickes Apr. 12, 1932 1,897,920 Wilson Feb. 14, 1933 Brawand Jan. 9, 1951

